A federal judge upheld a court order that blocked President Donald Trump from stripping Harvard University.
US District Judge Alison D. Burrows extended her previous restraining order on Thursday. This will prevent the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s accreditation under the Student and Exchange Visitors Program (SEVP). This accreditation allows universities to sponsor international students on US visas while they are registered.
Barrows, Obama’s appointee, said she would preserve the status quo and both sides would award and submit either a jointly proposed interim injunction order or an individual proposed order.
However, the latest information from the courts is not the loss of the Trump administration. At least there isn’t yet.
Trump nominates former defense attorney Emil Bove for a vacant federal court of appeal
Banner at Harry Elkinswidener Memorial Library on Harvard University Campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 27, 2025 (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)
The question is whether the Trump administration has the basis for revoking Harvard’s SEVP certification. Trump officials accused Harvard of “violence, anti-Semitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on campus.”
Legal experts told Fox News Digital that foreign students have far fewer protections than US citizens.
Experts pointed out that the SEVP program fell straight under the powers of DHS and ICE, giving the Trump administration a wide range of discretion to authenticate, extend or revoke university participation based on the implementation of foreign student visa holders.
The State Department is currently scrutinizing all visa holders related to Harvard.
While US citizens protect their First Amendment Freedom of Speech rights, it is similar to foreign students studying in the United States, and their status is sponsored by the university.
The intersection of the first revisions.” [issues] Immigration law really makes it new under this administration, at least to this extent,” Robert Sibley, special adviser to the Campus Advocacy of the Individual Rights and Expression Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
“Part of the complexity here is that the government has a lot of room for foreign policy issues,” Sibley said. “But in this case, I think there is a pretty clear process in place for regulations to strip schools of their ability to have foreign students attend visas, and simply ask for a certain amount of information from the school and strip them up right away.
Demonstrators will meet on April 25, 2025 in Cambridge, showing support for Palestinians outside Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in protest of Harvard’s stance on Harvard University.
Shortly after the court was postponed Thursday, the Trump administration gave Harvard 30 days to provide evidence and argued why it should not revoke its SEVP certification. It is not known if it meets the procedural requirements under the Management Procedure Act.
The court must also consider what conduct foreign student visa holders are engaged in, and whether these student visa holders are engaged in serial violations of immigration laws, whether they are acting in support of foreign terrorist organizations, or foreign terrorist organizations or foreign totalitarian governments.
“We’ve seen a lot of people living in the world,” said Alam Gavoll, an associate dean at George Washington University Law School and a former Justice Department lawyer. In this case, the DHS said it had “critical authority to accredit, regulate, accredit and, where necessary, accused the student and exchange visitor programs.”
Trump administrators working to fly Guatemalan immigrants were accidentally deported by us
“And in many situations, universities have the ability to run their own educational institutions, with the ability of universities to teach and in certain circumstances, to strain the U.S. government’s authority to regulate immigration in the context of student exchange visitors,” Gavoor added.
Harvard’s lawyers told the court that if enacted, the cancellation of its SEVP program would affect around 7,000 international students at undergraduate and graduate-level schools, causing irreparable harm. They also argue that the case is a violation of administrative proceedings, which requires the administration to grant certain notices before revoking their SEVP qualification.
“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for refusing to abandon academic independence,” Harvard President Alan Gerber said in a letter to the Harvard community on Friday.
In the short term, uncertainty leads foreign students in the visa program to flee Harvard, seeking transfers to other universities that are not targeted by the Trump administration, experts told Fox News.
Harvard President Alan Gerber acknowledged the extended applause at Harvard University’s opening ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Student visa holders are given the risk of leaving the country about 180 days after their status is revoked or violating the law, making the most important claims for thousands of students.
Legal experts said the courts are mostly walking to unknown territory. When asked how it unfolds, many scholars pointed out the lack of precedent and provided no clear answers.
“Like many of the things Trump does, the answer is unknown, because it has never been done before,” said Josh Blackman, a law professor at the South Texas School of Law. “I don’t think there is a clear precedent in the answer, as the president never tried to do this.
“And I say this. Trump basically accused Harvard of being the frontline for promoting terrorism and terrorism,” he added. “And I think what they’re trying to do is determine if this institution can basically exist.”
This was reflected by Gavour, who said things need to unfold between the Trump administration and Harvard before the court could properly determine whether the government is following the law.
“I think Harvard needs to follow the off-cycle review of DHS SEVP certification,” Gavoor said.
Click here to get the Fox News app
At the same time, he said, even if the Trump administration lost to the merits of the incident, “there is a point to be argued that it may have won as a policy function.”
“That’s because it creates a calm effect on students who otherwise attend Harvard University or who are less likely to or do so. [causes them] Planning alternative plans for education in the United States.”
Breanne Deppisch is a national political reporter for Fox News Digital, covering the Trump administration, focusing on the Department of Justice, the FBI and other national news.
Source link
